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contact Offices can be a source of a lot
of unnecessary waste as well as unnecessary costs. While the
majority of office waste is paper, offices also produce
significant quantities of other wastes including food, food
packaging, toner cartridges and cardboard.
With a minimal of effort an organisation can
minimise the amount of waste (by weight) that is generated,
currently sent to landfill by over 80%. The many flow-on
benefits include improving efficiency, conserving energy,
extending the life of equipment and improving staff morale
and productivity. An additional benefit is meeting community
expectations for improved environmental performance to enhance their
brand within the marketplace.
EcoRecycle Victoria’s Waste Wise Office Toolkit
recommends a seven step process for implementing a waste management
program. Within this process it is important to complete each step
in sequence, however it is possible to work on consecutive steps
simultaneously.
Step 1 – Committing to the Program
-
Gain the commitment to a waste reduction strategy
from key stakeholders
-
Identify staff interested and utilise their
enthusiasm to drive the process
-
All staff must understand their roles in the
process, so their daily habits can be changed.
Step 2 – Conducting a Waste Assessment
A waste assessment involves identifying the type and
quantity of waste produced and items consumed in the office. The level
of detail within the assessment will determine how accurately the
waste reduction strategy can be monitored. A detailed assessment will
take more time, but will enable you to accurately measure your
progress and target the waste streams which will have most benefit to
your organisation. Typical waste streams include:
-
paper/cardboard,
-
recyclable items,
-
printer consumables,
-
disposable cups, etc
Step 3 – Developing a Waste Reduction Action Plan
A Waste Reduction Action Plan identifies strategies to
reduce waste generation and details Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
to monitor the effectiveness of the action plan and ensures a
coordinated approach.
Follow the principles of the Waste Management
Hierarchy to develop actions for each waste stream:
-
Avoid
-
Reuse
-
Recycle
It is easier for monitoring and assessment purposes to
group your actions by waste streams and record who is responsible for
each action.
Set KPI’s for each waste stream, eg
-
Paper waste stream: KPI of 40% reduction in paper
use in year 1, 60% in 4 years.
-
Waste to landfill: KPI of 60% reduction in 4 years
Step 4 – Communicating the Plan
Step 5 – Monitoring and Reviewing Your Progress
-
Monitor your progress by regularly conducting waste
assessments
-
Compare the results against targets
-
Review targets and modify your plan accordingly to
improve performance
-
Regularly report on the performance of the action
plan
Step 6 – Applying for certification
In Victoria, you can obtain Waste Wise certification
to recognises your efforts and give your waste management program
credibility with your suppliers, the public, competitors and peers. To
be eligible, you need to have developed and commenced implementation
of your Waste Reduction Action Plan.
For more information about applying for certification,
contact the Regional Education Officer at your local Regional Waste
Management Group or EcoRecycle Victoria.
Step 7 – Continuous Improvement
Once you have achieved your targets set new targets to
build upon your waste reduction successes to encourage long term
cultural change in your organisation.
Contact us
here to
start or improve your
waste management. |
